The current Department of Justice is choosing to continue enforcing an unconstitutional legal theory being weaponized against gun owners by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
According to a recent statement in GOA’s Texas et al. v. ATF case, DOJ claims that ATF “continue[s] to enforce the NFA’s and the GCA’s regulation of short-barreled rifles against some brace-equipped pistols, even though the Rule has been universally vacated.”
For those who are unfamiliar, in 2022 the Biden Administration issued an executive order instructing the Department of Justice to ban pistol braces, a popular firearm accessory designed to allow shooters with disabilities to “brace” their firearms against their forearm.
The Biden DOJ used this rule to effectively outlaw firearms equipped with stabilizing braces, by regulating them as short-barreled firearms under the National Firearms Act. This move turned the law-abiding owners of upwards of 40 million pistol braces into felons practically overnight, unless they destroyed their firearm or registered it with the federal government.
GOA and other pro-gun groups challenged this pistol brace rule in multiple courts across the country, culminating with a total elimination of the rule in court.
With this victory, pistol braces were once again viable options for shooters, and owners of pistol-braced firearms were no longer in danger of becoming felons...or so they thought.
Unfortunately, it seems as though the current Justice Department is looking to pick up right where Biden’s DOJ left off. And so ATF appears to be still enforcing the very same legal theories about braces, as confirmed by their statement in GOA’s pistol brace case.
This development is extremely concerning for GOA and millions of gun owners nationwide who own pistol brace-equipped firearms.
In addition, the continued possibility of felony NFA charges against at least some gun owners with braced pistols stands in stark contrast to President Trump’s repeated campaign promises to gun owners:
“I will eliminate the Biden ATFs ridiculous pistol brace rule, which orders law-abiding citizens to register or surrender guns with stabilizing braces.”
– President Trump on April 14th, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana
“[President Biden] imposed the so-called pistol brace rule which orders law-abiding citizens to register or surrender guns with certain equipment. You know that many of you are forced to do it. … All of those Biden disasters get ripped up and torn out my first week but maybe my first day in office okay, okay maybe my first.”
– President Trump on Feb. 9th, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
The disconnect between President Trump’s campaign promises and the Department of Justice’s recent threat to owners of firearms with pistol braces justifiably has led to a great deal of confusion and concern.
Over the past week, GOA brought this matter to the attention of multiple senior DOJ officials and expressed our members’ concerns. Unfortunately, we were given no indication that ATF intends to reverse course.
To gun owners and the firearm industry, we urge caution. ATF and DOJ apparently intend to continue targeting at least some braced pistols. But it is currently unclear which braced pistols the ATF believes are illegal short-barreled rifles. In fact, ATF told one of our colleagues that it will not issue any classification letter classifying firearms with braces—unless it is in a criminal case. This means that all pistol braced firearms—and their owners—are in jeopardy.
To the Trump Administration, we request a swift re-affirmation of the President’s intention to end the Biden Pistol Brace Ban, and affirmation of the legality of all pistols equipped with stabilizing braces – once and for all. It’s 2026, and the National Firearms Act no longer even imposes a tax on short-barreled firearms. There is no reason for bureaucrats at ATF to fret over barrel length, or the ability of a firearm to be shouldered. DOJ must follow President Trump’s executive order and protect our Second Amendment rights!
Even as the Department of Justice fights us in court, we continue to seek a permanent injunction against ATF’s enforcement of its legal theories regulating braced pistols as short-barreled firearms. And we continue to challenge the dubious regulation of short-barreled firearms under the guise of a non-existent $0 tax. We will not give up until the NFA is eliminated, and our rights are fully protected and restored.
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